Homecoming
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: Post s1 finale, Katrina Cornwell finds Gabriel Lorca-the real Gabriel Lorca-and brings him home.


**Homecoming**

Katrina Cornwell returned to her small, old, comfortable apartment after the medal ceremony at Starfleet. She was proud of the Discovery's crew. Proud to have been a small part of ending the war, even if it was Michael Burnham who had found the solution where Katrina had not. Thank god she's at least had the sense to listen and recognize her own mistake.

As she collapsed down onto the sofa, she sighed. Though she knew it was pointless to dwell on it, she was still bothered by her own blindness to the hideous error she had made in trying to destroy the Klingon homeworld. She was better than that. She knew better than that. The war had hardened her heart. That's what she'd told herself. But that wasn't really it.

Katrina had been grieving. For nine months, when she saw Discovery be destroyed, and when the real Discovery had returned. The news of the other universe's Gabriel Lorca's treachery and death wounded her more deeply than she would ever let on. She thought she'd watched him die, and then she was given the news of his death all over again. In reality, her Gabriel had probably died with the Buran. And she missed him every moment of every day.

Theirs was always a relationship of convenience. What had started out as a bit of fun and stress relief at the academy had evolved into a casual yet deep and fulfilling friendship that each of them had valued so much. If they weren't living such different, busy, unpredictable lives, Katrina had always felt like they would have been a really great pair. Part of her always held onto that comforting thought. She had taken for granted that he was always out there, awaiting the next opportunity for them to meet and share a scotch and spend the night having the hottest, best sex of her life.

The man was infuriating and smug and arrogant, but he was always there when she needed him and when she wanted him. He was truly a good man. A great Starfleet captain. And, if Katrina ever allowed herself to form the words in her mind, she would know that she had truly loved him.

As she was lost in quiet thought, the air in front of her began to shimmer gold. Somehow, a transport beam was entering her apartment. Katrina stood up. "Who's there? Identify!" she ordered.

The figure never fully materialized, though its shadow flickered in and out. But there was a sound. A faint voice. Barely over a whisper. But Katrina heard it clearly, just as the transport shimmer faded away.

"Kat. Help."

Only one person in the universe called her Kat. Her hand covered her mouth as she tried not to sob in shock and fear and relief and every other emotion.

Gabriel Lorca was alive.

Katrina immediately sprang into action. She needed to scan for whatever trace the attempted transport may have left. She needed to get a ship. She needed to find him.

All she could get from the instruments she had at home was the system origin of the signal. She felt lucky for even that much. He was in the Ovion System. There were only five planets in that star system. Scanners should be able to pick him up. And it wouldn't take too long to get there on warp.

Katrina threw items she knew she'd want and need—both for herself and for Gabriel—aand left her apartment not long after arriving. She went immediately to the shipyard.

"I need a small vessel equipped with scanners and basic medical facilities," she ordered the first worker she saw.

"Right away, Admiral."

Katrina smiled in spite of her bubbling anxiety. Her position did have its merits. No one would question her unsanctioned rescue mission. She knew this should go through the proper channels, that Federation command should be informed, that this mission to find Gabriel should be done by a fully crewed ship. And if she needed assistance, she would call for it. As an admiral, she would receive whatever resources from any nearby Federation ship she could hail. That wouldn't be a problem.

But something deep and visceral told Katrina that this was her mission and hers alone. She needed to be the one to save Gabriel. Something told her that she alone could rescue him and bring him home. And if she got a slap on the wrist from her superiors, so be it.

Before she could even really stop to think through the insane task she'd given herself, Katrina was off in a tiny ship. She programmed the Ovion System into the navigator. In a few hours, she'd be searching for Gabriel.

Gabriel. Katrina hadn't let herself think much about him in the months since she'd first heard of Discovery's destruction. The first time she'd thought he was dead. No, that wasn't right. The second time. The first time had been the Buran. She had first been told there were no survivors. But he had. He had returned to her so broken, physically and mentally. She had assumed the trauma had changed him. War had a way of doing that to people, after all.

But the man who returned from the Buran hadn't been her Gabriel. She'd had her suspicions then but had quieted her instincts. She had been so relieved to have him alive and back in her arms that she hadn't allowed herself to doubt. Their night together on Discovery had confirmed her fears: this Gabriel Lorca was not the man she had loved for most of her life.

And then Discovery was destroyed. Gabriel lost again. Discovery returned. News of the truth, that her Gabriel was lost, and his imposter was dead. She had believed her Gabriel was dead. It was cruel folly to allow herself to think otherwise. Hope was not a luxury she could afford. Not after being told of his death three times in two years. It just hurt too damn much to even contemplate.

But he had found her. He had reached through the vastness of space and found her. He called her Kat. And he had asked for her help. Katrina wouldn't let him down. Not now, not ever.

As the tiny vessel warped through space, Katrina felt that dangerous hope bubble up inside her. She would be able to see him again. He would hold her in his arms against his chest. They would kiss. Somehow, all their old habits would return.

Katrina smiled, in spite of her rational knowledge that finding him, even if she did know the star system, would be an impossible task. And if she did find him, what state would he be in? No one knew what had happened to him.

"I'll see you soon, Gabriel," she vowed, speaking aloud in a quiet and reverent voice. "My Gabriel."

She put the ship on autopilot and went to the cargo containment. Organizing medical supplies, taking inventory of what was available, imagining what she would need, all took her mind off of her anxiety. She had been trying not to predict what state she would find him in, but she needed to be ready. Regardless of her personal feelings that had led her here, Katrina reminded herself that this was first and foremost a rescue mission.

"Arrival in Ovion System imminent. Warp speed reduced," the computer announced.

Katrina hurried back to the pilot's chair to prepare the scanners. Her heart began to pound in her chest and anxious knots formed in her stomach. She was a Starfleet Admiral, fresh from the Klingon Wars. But this was the most afraid she could ever recall being. Because a small voice in the back of her head whispered, _What if you've come so far, allowed yourself to believe he's alive, only to be disappointed again, find him dead or worse?_

She shook her head. The ship fell out of warp in the center of the Ovion System. Time to get to work. Scanning for human life forms.

The scanner lit up. Apparently there was an outpost here on one of the planets. Katrina thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of going to investigate. She didn't want to have to explain her Starfleet presence. But these people might be helpful. Maybe they had rescued Gabriel and kept him safe all this time. On the other hand, he had tried and failed to transport to her. That seemed to indicate he was alone, without assistance. But where would he have gotten the transport capability otherwise?

Katrina decided to keep the outpost as a secondary search location. If she didn't find him anywhere by himself according to her scanners, she'd land and investigate there.

"Dear god, please let him be safe. Let him be alive," she whispered to herself as she steered the ship away from the first planet. It felt strange to pray in any earnest form. But after all the heartache she'd endured losing her Gabriel three times, faith was all she really had left.

There!

A small signal appeared on her display. It was weak, barely detectable, floating in empty space. Instinct or destiny or something else told Katrina that had to be Gabriel.

She locked onto the coordinates to get a closer look. In case it wasn't Gabriel, she wasn't going to be stupid enough to transport that signal onboard sight unseen.

As her vessel approached, Katrina could see that it was an escape pod drifting aimlessly. It didn't look damaged as far as she could tell, but none of its systems seemed operational.

Flipping a few switches, she tried to hail it. "This is Admiral Katrina Cornwell of Starfleet. Is there anyone aboard?"

Silence.

"Identify!" she commanded. Her mind swirled with possibilities. Maybe he was aboard and had used the last of the escape pod's power to attempt a transport. There was no way that an escape pod at full power could transport across systems. She swallowed hard, trying not to panic, remember her training, divorce her feelings from her goal. But she couldn't. "Gabriel?" The way her voice shook and cracked revealed the emotion she tried to suppress.

No response.

She wiped a wayward tear from her cheek and checked her scanner again. It was a human life form. The vital signs were so weak that the instruments couldn't detect anything beyond the species.

Realizing there was no other option, Katrina made the stupidest decision an admiral could possibly make. She locked onto the life signal and transported it to her ship.

She stood up and went to the single transport bay in the back of the cargo container. Breath caught in her throat as the golden energy light shimmered in front of her.

A figure appeared. A man. Tall. Dark hair. Deep blue Starfleet uniform, decorated with the gold badge of a captain. He collapsed to the ground.

"Gabriel!" she cried, rushing forward to gather him in her arms. Katrina was shaking and crying. She couldn't help it. She held her Gabriel tight, rocking him in her lap as she wept in relief.

This indulgence, however, only lasted a moment. He was barely breathing, and she knew from her scanners that his pulse was incredibly weak. As best she could, she hoisted him onto the exam table and immediately hooked him up to the basic life support machines. Oxygen flowed through the mask she attached to his nose and mouth. She was able to focus her attention enough to stop her hands from shaking to insert an IV to give antibiotics and a tube to give fluids and nutrients.

After her flurry of actions, Katrina stepped back to look at the monitors. Every reading was low but now steadily climbing. Satisfied for the moment, she set a course back to Earth. Back home.

As soon as the autopilot was set and they were traveling at warp speed, Katrina returned to the make-shift medical bay. Gabriel was still stable, thank goodness. All his vitals were still low, but they were getting better. Katrina breathed a sigh of relief. She took his hand in both of hers and held it tight, pressing a kiss to his fingers.

"I found you. I finally found you," she whispered. "You are not allowed to die on me again."

She stood there for far too long, staring at him, watching him breathe, letting the indicators of his vital signs ease her worry. As she had done many times, Katrina studied every line on his face. There were so many more now than she recalled.

She thought back, trying to remember the last time she had seen this face. Not the other Lorca, but this one. Her Gabriel. Before the Buran. They had been due for a meeting when the ship was destroyed. It must be almost three whole years since she had looked at him and touched him and held him.

Ever since she had been made admiral, their visits got more frequent. Every few months, under the guise of a command inspection or some other war-related concern, Katrina would board his ship and spend the night in his cabin. She'd gotten used to it, the regularity of their meetings, the dependability of good conversation, great scotch, and even better sex. They enjoyed each other, had their fun, and went their separate ways. God, how she'd missed him. Now, Katrina wasn't sure she'd ever be able to let go of his hand.

Upon entering earth's orbit, Katrina knew she needed to take care of business. She brought his hand to his lips reverently and reviewed his vitals once again. They looked as good as she could have expected.

Reluctantly she let him go and opened an audio communication channel to Starfleet Command. "This is Admiral Katrina Cornwall. Approaching with passenger requiring emergency medical attention. Standby."

With a backward glance toward Gabriel, Katrina landed the craft. A medical team was waiting.

"Admiral, you're hurt?" the chief medical officer asked.

"Not me. Him," Katrina explained, pointing to the back of the ship.

The crew dashed inside to transport the patient out. The medical officer watched with a concerned frown. "Who is he?"

"Starfleet Captain Gabriel Lorca of the USS Buran. Presumed dead 14 months ago."

Lorca. Everyone knew that name. All the things the alternate universe Lorca had done here had been whispered throughout Starfleet like a ghost story to be used as a word of caution.

Katrina ignored the stares and shocked expressions. She followed behind the transport crew, knowing the doctors would need to ask her the state he'd been found in and what she'd done for him so far.

Despite the swirling confusion and chaos that surrounded her, Katrina felt a small smile on her lips. She suddenly realized what she'd done. She'd found him. And she had brought him home.


End file.
